Apparatus for washing dishes, silverware, and the like



Oct. 7, 1941. D. E. YOCHEM APPARATUS FOR WASHING DISHES, SILVERWARE, AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 2, 1939 2 Sheets- Sheet l 3 W0 mam I 2012410 136050,

Oct. 7, 1941. 1;. E. YO-CH-EM 2,257,929

APPARATUS FOR WASHING DISHES, SILVERWARE, AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 2, 1939 Z'Sh'eets-Sheet Z Patented Get. 7, 19%

whim E APPARATUS FOR WASHING DISHES, rE-HIVERWARE, AND THE LIKE Donald E. Yochem, @olumbus, Ohio, assigmor to it. S. 1b., inn, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Application November 2, i939, SeriailN'o. 302,594

(ill. 299-63) 9 @laims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus for washing, rinsin and drying dishes, silverware, and the like and is a modification of the apparatus disclosed and claimed in my Patent No. 2,137,971, issued November 22, 1938. More specifically, this invention relates to fluid impelling mechanism, which is adapted to be employed in place of the impelling mechanism disclosed in my aforesaid patent.

In the above-referred to patent there is disclosed fluid impelling mechanism which is designed to disperse at a high velocity a finely atomized fluid in such a way that all portions of the entire interior of the treatment housin will sim'ldtaneously receive the fluid. Although this patented apparatusis intended to be operated with an unusually small amount of liquid, as'compared to other dish washing machines obtainable normal operating cycle of machines of this typ 1 involves charging the housing twice with hot water for each batch of dishes, or the like, being treated, the first charge being for washing and the second charge for rinsing, any appreciable reduction in the amount of hot water. used results in a considerable saving in the cost of heating the water when the apparatus is employed in iunchrooms, soda fountains, restaurants, tap rooms, or the like, where batch after batch of dishes, silverware and glasses must be cleaned during rush periods.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide fluid impelling mechanism for dish washing Y -machines, of the type where the treatment fluids are collected in and dispersed from a trough formed in the bottom of the housing by an impeller which rotates about a horizontal axis.-

wherein the dispersed fluid is concentrated in a zone which covers only a fractional portion of the interior of the housing and the treatment zone is continuously moved back and forth relative to the housing so that all portions of the housing will be repeatedly included in the moving treatment zone. A further important object of the invention is to provide novel means for continuously moving or shifting the concentrated discharge of finely atomized fluid dispersed at a high velocity from a collecting trough by a rapidly rotating impeller. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the courseof the fol lowing description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of the hous ing of a dish washing, rinsing and drying ma.- chine embodying this invention,

Figure 2 is a detailed, fragmentary, horizontal sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1,

Figure 3 is a detail view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and discloses part of the mechanism in vertical section and part in elevation, and

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are detail vertical sectional views illustrating respectively, the extreme lower position, the intermediate position and the extreme up r position of a deflector employed for changing the direction of discharge of the stream offinely atomized treatment fluid which is dispersed throughout the interior of the housing.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown the preferred embodiment of this inventiomthe reference character in, in Fig. 1, designates in its entirety the housing for the dish washing, rinsing and drying machine embodying this invention. This housing is made up 1 of the'main body portion it, supported on suitable legs |2 at its four corners, and a removable cover l3.

As disclosed in Figs. 2 and 4 to 6 inclusive, the

main body portion M of the housing is formed by a. bottom wall it, having a shallow trough i5 formed therein and extending longitudinally of the housing with the trough being of curved or I I for delivering treatment fluid to the' interior of As is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, the end walls l6 and ll of the body portion II are provided with bearing openings 20 and 2| which are axially alined. These openings are provided to allow for the insertion of bearing members 22 and 23 respectively which are secured in place by flanges 2d and 25 that may be bolted, riveted, or otherwise secured to the end walls It and I I respectively. These bearings each provide both internal and external bearing surfaces for purposes to be .explained as the description proceeds. Although these bearings are illustrated as being of solid, block construction and as providing plane bearings may take numerous forms and may be anti-friction bearings if desired, just so they will accomplish their intended dual supporting function.

Journaled within the axially alined bearing openings. of the bearings 22 and 23 is an impeller shaft 26. This shaft has one end projecting beyond the bearing 22 to be connected by means of the stream 36 will cover an area or zone which bearing surfaces, it is to be understood that these a coupling 21 to the armature shaft of an electhe impeller wheels 32. Each one of these wheels consists of a hub portion 33 and a suitable number of radially extending, longitudinally curved impeller blades 36.

' By inspecting Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive, it will be seenqthat the impeller blades 36 are of proper length, relative to the distance between the impeller shaft 26 and the bottom of the trough, to cause the impeller blades to dip into the trough and expel the treatment fluid 35 therefrom. The

impeller shaft, and its impeller wheels 32, rotate in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive, and the stream 36 of finely atomized fluid, traveling at a high velocity discharged from the side 30 of the trough IE will have a length substantially equal to the length of ,the

trough and will be substantially fan-shape in vertical section.

The elevation or level of the trough at the discharge side 30 determines the direction of discharge of this horizontally elongated, vertically fan-shaped stream 3%. Fig. 4 illustrates the direction of discharge of the stream directly over the discharge side or edge 38 of the trough. When discharged in .this manner, the stream 36 will treat objects located in the lower left hand corner portion of the housing. To change this direction of discharge of the stream 36 a vertically curved deflector blade 3? has been provided and is oscillatably associated with the dis-- charge side 36 of the trough. This deflector blade is carried at its opposite ends by the arms 38 which in turn are secured to rings 39 journaled exteriorly" on the bearings 22 and 2-3. Fig. 2 clearly illustrates this deflector blade 37 as extending substantially the full length of the trough E5. The deflector blade 31 is illustrated in Fig. 4

in'its extreme lower or inner position where it is entirely housed within the trough iii. charge of fluid, when the deflector blade 31 is in starts approximately from the planeat which the stream 36 in Fig. 4 terminates and extends around the periphery of the impeller wheels so as to include in its path all of the upper portion of the housing and the upper parts of the side walls of the main body and cover of the housing. As the deflector blade 31 moves still further in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive, it reaches its limit ofoutward movement, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The deflector blade 31, when in this position, functions to extend the dis charge side or edge 30 of the trough a distance equal to the width or vertical height of the deflector blade. In Fig. 6, the stream 36 is illustrated as covering an area which will include substantially all of the side wall IQ of the hous ing, the overlying side wall of the cover [3, and a part of the top wall of this cover.- It will be seen, therefore, that the entire interior of the housing will fall within the path or discharge zone of the stream 36 during one complet oscillation or stroke of the deflector blade 37 in one direction. of course, as the blade returns from its extreme outer position of Fig. 6 to its extreme inner or retracted position of Fig. 4, the stream 3'5 will traverse the interior of the housing in the reverse direction. By continuously or repeatedly oscillating the deflector blade 31 between its two extreme positions, the entire interior of the housing will repeatedly fall within the discharge or treatment zone of the stream 36 and all articles arranged within the housing will be repeatedly subjected to the treatment fluid.

Of-course, this deflector blade or trough extension may be manipulated manually if desired, but to obtain the most eflicient, uniform treatment of all objects arranged throughout the The disthis retracted position, is substantially over the discharge side or edge 30 of the trough. As the deflector blade moves outwardly of the trough, the upper edge of the blade acts as an extension of the discharge side 30 of the trough and stream 36. Whenthe deflector blade 31 is in its intermediate position, as illustrated in Fig. 5,

changes the direction of discharge of the fluid I entire interior of the housing, it has been found to be highly desirable to continuously oscillatethe deflector blade during the entire'perlod of operation of the impeller shaft 26 with its impeller wheels 32. To accomplish this continuous operation or oscillation of the deflector blade, an

- arm 4!], see Figs. 2 and 3, project laterally of one of the deflector blade supporting arms 38 and extends through an arcuate slot 45 formed in the end wall it of the'housing body it A pitman i2 is pivotally connected to the arm M3 at one end and is pivotally connected at its remaining end to an eccentric or crank pin 63 carried by a disc or crank arm M which is attached to the armature shaft 4510f a small, low speed motor 68.

A. cap or housing {ill is provided to enclose the crank disc id, its crank pin 43,. the pitman Q2,

and the projecting portion of the arm fill, as is clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3. Although the deflector blade 31 may be caused to oscillate at any desired speed, it has been found to be most effective if the blade completes eight oscillations in each direction per minute.- The small electric motor 46, therefore, should be of a type which will rotate its armature eight complete revolutions per minute. Of course, a higher speedsmall motor may be employed with speed reducing gearing which will driv the disc or crank 46 at the desired low speed although the armature shaft for the motor 46 operates at a much higher speed. Likewise, a suitable speed reduction drive may be interposed between the armature shaft of the motor 28 and the shaft which is employed for supporting the crank or disc M. These modi- I flcations will be obvious to any person'skilled in the art.

Certain factors have been found to be very critical in connection-with this fluid impelling mechanism. For example, for a housing which is sixteen inches in width, twenty-one inches in length and about fourteen inches in height, approximately three quarts of treatment fluid should be employed. The electric motor is should have an R. P. M. of about 3500. The impeller wheels should be spaced from approximately one-half inch to approximately one and one-half inches-from each other and the best results are obtained when they are spaced ap proximately one inch apart. A clearance of from to of an inch should be provided between the tips of the impeller blades 36 and the curved inner surface of the deflector blade 3? to obtain the most efllcient dispersion of fluid from the trough i5.

With the impeller wheels spaced in accordance with the range given above, it has been determined that the stream 36 is solid and ofsubstantially uniform density throughout its entire length, or throughout the entire length of the trough. This is due to the fact that the impeller wheels, operating at the high speed of approximately 3500 R. P. M. will not only directly pick up fluid from the trough and discharge the same from their extremities but fluid will be picked up from the trough'in the spaces between the 'impeller wheels and will be carried around with the wheels and discharged with the fluid leaving the extremities of these impeller blades. It has been determined, also, that a certain amount of side slip occurs on the advance faces of the impellfer blades which causes some of the fluid actually picked up by the blades to move laterally of the advancing surfaces of the blades into the spaces between the blades and this fluid in the spaces between the blades which result from side slip from the advance surfaces of the blades will be discharged radially with the fluid leaving the extremities of the blades.

Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive illustrate the approximate depth of the treatment fluid in the different portions of the bottom of the housing during high speed operation of the impeller wheels. 02 course, when the impeller wheels are idle, the fluid will reach a common level throughout the entire bottom of the housing.

As the return side 3! of the housing is entirely open or unobstructed during all periods of operation of the apparatus, any fluid which drops onto the portion of the bottom wall M of the housing arranged between the side wall 89 and the side 3! of the trough will readily flow back into the trough. Fig. 2 discloses the fact that the deflector blade 3'! does not extend the entire distance between the end walls 56 and i7. Therefore, a certain amount of the liquid deposited on the bottom wall i l of the housing between the side wall l6 and the discharge side of the trough will be permitted to run back. into the trough around the ends of the deflector blade 31 even when this blade is in its extreme'upper position. The outer or under surface of the deflector blade 31, also, is not positioned relative to the top surface of the trough it so as actually to rub or contact the same. There is a certain. amount of clearance left between these surfaces of the deflector blade and the trough and this clearance allows for the remainder of the water deposited to the left of the trough, or outwardly of its discharge side 30, to return to the trough beneath the deflector blade 3?. This return of fluid beneath the deflector blade will in no way interfere with the discharge of fluid over the Kit inner or top surface of the deflector blade and from the upper edge of the same.

In operating the mechanism disclosed and described above, the dishes, silverware, and glassware to be washed, rinsed and dried are positioned within the housing iii. V The desired amount of hot water and a cleaning powder or fluid are delivered to the housing. The motors iii and :36 are then started, after the cover it is applied, and the articles within the housing are subjected to treatment with the washing fluid.

it has been determined that three minutes.con-

stitutes a very eflective washing period. After the articles have been thoroughly washed, the wash water is drained from the housing and clear hot water is provided. This hot water is dis" persed through the housing in the same manner as the washing fluid. A very brief rinse period is needed and may be from one-half to one min ute. After the articles are thoroughly rinsed, the rinse water is drained from the housing. The movements of the impeller blades and the deflector blade are continued after the rinse water has been withdrawn from the housing, to circulate the air within the housing. This circulation of air plus the fact that the articles have been heated by the hot washing and rinsing fluids, very quickly dries the articles. The motors 28 and 6% Having thus described the invention, 1 claim! l. A dish and silverware washing,.rinsing and drying machine comprising a housing having a shallow trough in the bottom wall thereof, an im peller shaft journaled in the housing above said trough, .a series of axially spaced impeller wheels having radial blades fixed to said shaft, the blades being of proper length to dip into said trough,

means for rotating said shaft at a'sufliciently high rate of speed as to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a finely atomized condition from one side of the trough, said expelled fluid being in the form of a stream which is substantially equal in width to the length of the trough and is substantially fan-shaped in vertical section, a deflector oscillatably associated with said discharge side of the impeller and being operable to change the direction of discharge of said stream, and

mechanical means for continuously oscillating said deflector in an arc substantially concentric with the path ofthe impeller blades to cause a stream 01 substantially uniform concentration to be repeatedly discharged back and forth in the housing interior. r

2. A dish and silverware washing, rinsing and drying machine comprising a housing, a shallow trough in the bottom thereof, alined bearings carried by the end walls of the housing above said trough, a bladed impeller shaft joumaled into said bearings, the blades being of proper length to dip into said trough, means for rotating said impeller at a sufliciently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a flnely atomized condition from one side of the trough, said expelled fluid being in the form of a stream which is substantially equal in width to the length oi the trough and is substantially fan-shaped in vertical section, a transversely curved deflector blade substantially equal in length to the length of the trough, means for supporting said blade on said bearings for oscillatory movement in an arc substantially concentric with said impeller, the oscillatory movements of said blade causing the radial direction of discharge of said stream to be changed without substantially varying the concentration thereof, and means for continuously oscillating said blade through said arc during operation of the machine.

3. A dish and silverware washing, rinsing and drying machine comprising a housing, a shallow trough in the bottom thereof, alined bearings carc ried by the end walls of the housing above said trough, a bladed impeller journaled in said bearings, the blades being of proper length to dip into said trough, means for rotating said impeller at a sufliciently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a flnely atomized condition from one side of the trough, said expelled fluid being in the form of a stream which is substantially equal in width to the length of the trough and is substantially fan-shaped in vertical section, a transversely curved deflector blade substantially equal in length to the length "of said trough, a ring journaled for rotation on each bearing, an arm attached to each ring and to an end of said deflector blade, said rings and arms supporting said blade for oscillatory movement in an arc concentric with the impeller, the oscillatory movements of said blade causing the radial direction of discharge of said stream to be changed without substantially varying its concentration, and power means connected to one arm of the blade for continuously oscillating the blade to cause the stream to be repeatedly discharged into all portions or" the housing interior. d. In a dishwashing machine the combination oi a housing having a trough-shaped bottom i'or collecting fluid, a rotary impeller extending longitudinally of the housing and positioned to pick up fluid adjacent the bottom of the housing and to project the same upwardly through the said housing, a curved deflector coextensive with and partially surrounding said impeller for concentrating the stream thrown by the impeller and means for continuously oscillating said deflector through a substantial arc concentric with said impeller during operation of the machine whereby the fluid is concentrated in a zone which covers only a fractional portion of the interior of the housing and the thus concentrated zone of treatment continuously oscillated back and forth relative to the housing so that all portions or the housing are repeatedly included in the moving treatment zone.

5. In a dishwashing machine the combination curved deflector partially surrounding said impeller and in such relation thereto as to cause the impeller to deliver a substantially uniform concentrated stream' of fluid to a limited zone of treatment representing but a fractional portion of the interior of said housing and means for continuously oscillating said deflector through a substantial arc concentric with said impeller during operation of the machine whereby all portions. of the interior of said housing are repeatedly subjected to the action of said substantially uniform concentrated stream.

- 6. In a dish and silverware washing, rinsing and drying machine, a housing adapted to concentrate a small quantity of fluid in the bottom thereof, a rotatable impeller for throwing flnely subdivided fluid upwardly through the said housing, an oscillatable directional control deflector partially surrounding said impeller and arranged for oscillation through an arc concentric with the impeller and of a length adequate to effect controlled delivery of a substantially uniform concentrated stream to all parts of the housing during a single oscillation of said deflector and means for continuously oscillating said deflector through such are during operation of the machine to thereby cause said substantially uniform concentrated stream to continuously traverse the interior of the housing in asuccession of cycles, l v

7. A dish and silverware washing, rinsing and drying machine comprising a housing having a shallow trough in the bottom wall thereof, an impeller Journaled in the housing above said trough having blades of a proper length to dip into said trough, means for rotating said impeller at a sufliciently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to'expel fluid in a finely atomized condition from one side of the trough, said expelled fluid being in the form of a stream which is substantially equal in width to the length of the trough and is substantially Ian-shaped in vertical section, a curved deflector associated with said discharge side of the trough and oscillatable through a substantial are concentric with said impeller for changing the radial direction of discharge of said stream while maintaining it at a substantially uniform con centration, and power means for continuously oscillating said deflector through said arc.

' 8. A dish and silverware washing machine comprising a housing having a shallow trough in the bottom wall thereof, a bladed impeller journaled in the housing above said trough, the blades of said impeller being of proper length to dip into said trough, means for rotating said impeller at a sufliciently high rate of speed to cause the impeller blades to expel fluid in a finely atomized'condition from the trough, said expelled fluid being in the form of astrearn which is substantially equal\i n width to the length of said trough and is substantially fan shaped in vertical section, a deflector oscillat ably associated with said impeller and arranged to control the direction of discharge of fluid from said impeller blades, and means operable to continuously oscillate said deflector through an are substantially concentric with said impeller to continuously change the direction oi discharge of said stream without substantially varying its concentration.

9. In a dish washing machine, the combina-- tion of a housing having a trough-shaped bottom for collecting fluid, a rotary impeller extending longitudinally or the housing and having blades positionedto pick up fluid adjacent the bottom 01' the housing and to project the same upwardly through the said housing, a horizontally elongated transversely curved deflector disposed adjacent the ends of said impeller blades for concentrating the stream thrown by the impeller, and means for continuously oscillating said deflector through a substantial arc concentric with said impeller during operation of the machine whereby the fluid is concentrated in a zone which covers only a fractional portion of the interior of the housing and the thus concentrated zone of treatment is continuously oscillated back and forth relative to the housing so that all portions of the housing are repeatedly included in the moving treatment zone.

DONALD E. YOCHEM. 

